


date night at vic's

by nuageuse (ensoleillee)



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Garak is still bad at feelings, M/M, Slice of Life, no beta we die like men, super self-indulgent, talking about feelings, the date at vic's we deserve but never got
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:55:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24812686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ensoleillee/pseuds/nuageuse
Summary: Julian persuades Garak to join him for dinner at Vic's lounge, and while it doesn't go as planned, the outcome does delight both of them.
Relationships: Julian Bashir/Elim Garak
Comments: 2
Kudos: 36





	date night at vic's

**Author's Note:**

> this is a kinda continuation of [steal away in the morning](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23947372), but i think you don't have to read it to understand this one. also this is super duper self-indulgent lol  
> i'm still a bit rusty with writing but i wanna pick that hobby up again so expect less trash content soon <3  
> i also have to admit i didn't bother with the timeline so if anything doesn't make sense just let me know or ignore it

“Oh, come on, Garak,” Julian pleaded, adding a pout for good measure because he knows how he can get Garak to fulfil his wishes. “It won’t hurt you.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but the last time we went on one of your holo-adventures together, we almost got killed by a mad scientist who shared resemblances with the Commander of this station,” Garak said almost bitterly. If Julian didn’t know better, he would think Garak was still sour about that one.

“And that was hardly my fault,” Julian retorted. “I did not have any influence on the transporter malfunctioning. _Besides,_ ” he adds, waving his fork in front of Garak’s face. “ _you_ were the one who snuck into my holoprogramme, if I remember correctly.”

“And if _I_ myself remember correctly, I saved you,” Garak said, sure he had won this argument. “Also, you _shot_ me.”

Julian was suddenly aware of how carried away they had gotten, and he realised some people staring at them. He sighed and said in a quieter tone: “But this is just Vic’s. No guns, no fanatic scientists and no hot spies. Just the two of us with good music and replicated drinks.”

“Careful Doctor, I might get the impression you’re asking me out on a date.” Garak sheepishly smiled at him.

But Julian just shrugged. He was past feeling embarrassed about his intentions and did not mind laying his cards on the table. “What makes you think I’m not?” He saw Garak gulp at that, his smile breaking before he collected himself and smiled in return. “So, it’s all settled then?”

“No, _nothing_ is—,” Garak spluttered but Julian raised his hand to silence him.

“I’ll see you on Friday at eighteen-hundred hours sharp. Wear your best suit.” Then he got up, put his tray of food away and returned to Garak one more time. “It was nice talking to you, as always,” he said with his trademark boyish smile that was just too innocent for him and squeezed Garak’s shoulder before he stalked away like a proud peacock.

**(###)**

On Friday, at eighteen-hundred hours sharp, Julian had already been waiting ten minutes at Quark’s. He was on his second drink but that had nothing to do with his nervousness which grew exponentially every time Julian looked at the entrance and did not see Garak coming through.

Garak surely hadn’t forgotten, because he was about the most reliable person Julian knew. He could count on Garak having his trousers trimmed in time, and so far, Garak hadn’t missed a single one of their lunch dates without a plausible explanation. (That didn’t mean Julian didn’t sometimes get the impression Garak was avoiding him, but that was another story.)

Perhaps Garak was trying to prove some point by not showing up on time or at all. Looking back, Julian realised he may have come across as a little pushy—more than a little. But to his defence, he had been wanting to invite Garak to Vic’s for ages. He had been dropping hints after hints; he talked about his evenings with the other Senior Officers countless times, made sure Garak knew how much he appreciated that place. And yet Garak had never picked up on it. Or had decided not to.

Morn sat down next to him. Julian greeted him and they clinked their glasses together.

“Morn, pray tell, have you ever been in love?” Julian asked.

Morn shrugged.

“The worst feeling in the world is when they don’t share your feelings, isn’t it?” Morn took a meaningful sip of his drink. “But, can I tell you a secret? I have a lot of reasons to believe my feelings aren’t that unnoticed and maybe even reciprocated.”

Morn turned to him and raised a non-existent eyebrow. Julian quickly clarified, “I know, I must sound full of myself. And I guess I am known for being a hopeless romantic myself, but I strongly believe I’m not making anything up this time.” He paused, took a sip of his drink, feeling the bitterness burn down his throat but a sweet tang remained in his mouth. “I see the way he’s looking at me sometimes, and every blind person would know what that means. And sometimes, pardon me, he kisses me with so much feeling, it overwhelms me.”

Morn remained thoughtfully quiet.

“I know, I know,” Julian rambled on. “If he really liked me like that, he would have made advances already. But I have the feeling he’s just scared. Of what, I can’t tell you exactly, maybe it has something to do with his past. Garak isn’t the most trusting person, I think we all can agree on that, and maybe it has been a long time since he has had. . . _feelings_.” He shrugged and gulped down the rest of his drink.

“What’s a handsome man like you doing at a place like this?”

The drink almost got spilt all over the bar if Julian hadn’t been able to catch himself. “ _Garak_ ,” he managed to get out between coughs.

“Was that inappropriate? I have been researching Terran _expressions_ suitable for this evening,” Garak explained himself. He almost looked embarrassed. “If I insulted you, I apologise.”

“No, no, you’re good,” Julian quickly said. “It was just unexpected, that’s all.”

Garak nodded, smiling, and then he eyed the drink in Julian’s hand. “I see you’ve already started without me.”

“Oh, this,” Julian slid his half-full glass over to Morn who took it with a nod. “I feared someone wouldn’t come, but luckily that fear turned out to be unnecessary.” Julian excused himself from the table and together, they went up the stairs to the holosuites. Julian continued, “It would have been a shame if you hadn’t come at all; you know how hard it is to book a few hours of alone-time in one of the holosuites.”

“Strange,” Garak mused. “From what I hear, you and Chief O’Brien seem to be on the holosuite quite often.”

Julian halted in front of the entrance. “Do I detect a hint of jealousy?”

“You are mistaken, Doctor,” Garak quickly said in defence. “I am grateful in fact, that you managed to squeeze in some time for me, between all those brutal and heroic adventures of yours.” Julian side-eyed his companion with a smile and shook his head. The doors slid open to reveal the ever-running programme of Vic Fontaine’s lounge.

Apart from the artificial guests, they seemed to be alone. Vic and his band had to be taking a break, but the lounge was by no means quiet; indistinctive chatter filled the halls, the clinking of silverware against porcelain. Julian glanced at Garak worrisomely. “Is this alright with you? I can deactivate the crowd if you want me to.”

Garak regarded Julian with one of his unreadable and much confusing looks but shook his head then. “It’s fine, but thank you for your concern.”

They went to a table for two in the front row. Julian made sure to pull out Garak’s chair before he sat down himself. “Our food should be here any minute,” Julian informed him. Garak nodded. “You have put quite an effort into our meeting tonight.”

The Doctor just nodded and looked around. He drank in the atmosphere around himself; no matter how often he came here and no matter with who, it always felt deeply refreshing to forget the problems of his current day, the Dominion, the ever ongoing dispute with Cardassia. He returned his look back to Garak who seemed to be studying him closely. “So?” he asked.

“So what, Doctor?”

“Why were you late?”

“Five minutes is hardly late, my dear.”

“Maybe not,” Julian agreed. “But for you it is. You’re always early, and when _I_ am late, you never fail to remind me just how long you’ve been waiting.”

Garak nodded slowly, defeated. “If you must know, I was held up by Major Kira. She was giving me quite a graphic speech about what she would do to me if I were to, how did she phrase it, ‘break your weak Human heart’. I wonder how she came up with that apprehension.”

“She has never been utterly fond of you,” Julian agreed. “But I’m sure she has no reason to worry about any hearts breaking, does she?”

They locked gazes for just a moment too long before Garak averted his gaze. “I see you’re letting me have a part in one of your 20th-century-fantasies again,” he said. “I would guess the 1960s. Am I to expect another satin-clad spy to devour you in front of my eyes again?”

Julian couldn’t suppress his chuckle. “Will you ever drop that accident, I wonder.”

Garak puffed up with a shocked expression. “My life was endangered, as well as yours, Doctor, we could have very well died in there.”

“I have to point out that this is very much the everyday life as a Starfleet member, especially in a region like this.”

“And _I_ have to remind you that I am no member of your Starfleet organisation. No one would get me to wear that hideous uniform anyway.”

“It seems like that’s your biggest issue with Starfleet is the dress code. Too bad, I would have loved to see you in a uniform,” Julian grinned. “I bet red would look good on you.”

Garak opened his mouth, most likely to express his outrage at the insult, and Julian was grateful for Vic suddenly interrupting them. The hologram rounded their table and Garak almost flinched. But only almost.

“Julian, how nice to see you drop by,” he said with his trademark smile and his never-ending enthusiasm. “I have never seen you here before,” he then addressed Garak. “You wanna introduce us?”

Julian cleared his throat. “Vic, this is Garak, my. . . _friend._ Garak, meet Vic, the owner and entertainer in this place.”

“Nice to finally meet the person Julian here has relentlessly been talking about,” Vic said cheerfully and offered his hand to the Cardassian.

“Likewise,” answered Garak with a charming smile and took Vic’s hand after a moment’s confusion.

Vic leaned into Garak’s personal space and Julian was not sure he was too eager to find out what Vic was going to tell his companion. Luckily—or unluckily, Julian was not sure—Vic spoke loudly enough for him to hear. “You might want to know that, despite his reputation for being a considerable Casanova, you are the first date he brings here. You have to be someone special to him.”

Despite Julian being rather open about his attraction to Garak, both physically and romantically, this observation made _and_ stated by Vic did manage to raise a flush in his cheeks and he butted in the conversation to change the topic.

“Vic, do tell, how have you been?” he asked quickly.

Vic grinned and winked at Garak before he directed his attention on the blushing Doctor. “Oh, I’ve been wonderful. Please deliver my greatest gratitude to Mister Sisko once again for allowing to run this programme non-stop. And that short friend of yours. . .Quark! Tell him I said hello, too.”

“That’s very good to hear,” commented Julian. “And I will deliver the messages. Though I’m sure Quark will not be too fond to hear about this programme; he’s been grumbling about losing precious latinum due to you ever since.”

Vic laughed. “Oh, well, you know, some people.” Someone from the band on the stage called for him. “Looks like I’m needed elsewhere. If you have any requests, just ask me or any of the waitresses.”

He made efforts to leave but Julian managed to catch him by his holographic sleeve. “What about our food, Vic?”

Vic made a face like he just remembered something. “Thanks for reminding me, pal. Your dinner will be served soon, there’s some trouble going on in the kitchen. I’m sure it will be resolved soon.” Julian nodded, bid Vic his thanks and let him go up the stage. Immediately the band began to play a song but Julian wasn’t paying enough attention to find out which one it was. His eyes were fixated on the two waitresses coming out of the kitchen, each a plate with a silver cloche hat on top, coming straight into their direction.

“It appears we won’t have to leave with empty stomachs after all,” Garak commented as the plates were served in front of them. Simultaneously, the hats were removed, the two young women wished them Bon appetite and gracefully walked away.

“Enjoy your food,” Julian said and unwrapped his silverware from the serviette. “I hope Terran cuisine will accommodate your standards.”

“I highly doubt it will, but I appreciate the gesture,” Garak retorted with a smug smile. “And I do thank you for arranging this evening for us.”

“And thank _you_ for joining me,” Julian answered. He held up his glass of champagne to clink with Garak’s who has long learned about this custom from his sole Human friend. And Julian hadn’t been surprised when Garak had shown vast interest in the history of this rather odd and definitely old habit.

Then they dug into their food.

“I must say, your Starfleet technology has improved a lot; for a replicated meal this tastes very authentically,” Garak said after a moment of shared silence.

Julian quickly chewed and swallowed his bite before he answered. “Oh, it’s not replicated. I’ve had Jake, Sisko’s son, imitate his father’s Cajun as good as possible.” He took another spoon full and chewed it bitterly.

“I reckon that favour came with a price,” Garak said slowly, easily picking up on Julian’s discomfort.

“It did, alright. Since Jake wants to pursue his career as a journalist I agreed to have him stay with me in the infirmary for a week and observe my work so that he can write an article about it,” Julian explained.

“Why, that sounds just like the right thing for your ego, my dear!”

Julian eyed Garak with a glare but let the subtle insult slide. “I didn’t think much of it at first, either, but today was our first day, and I can’t wait for the seven days to be over. It is most irritating to constantly have someone peek over your shoulder and ask you countless questions about trivial things.”

“You have gone through quite some obstacles to make this evening meet your expectations,” Garak observed and cocked his head to the side, watching Julian’s face.

“Well, there’s no shame in admitting that,” Julian shrugged and inwardly cursed his body for heating up again. Of course, Garak noticed. “My, my, Doctor, countless attempts of courting me, and now you’re becoming embarrassed.”

Almost loudly, Julian set his fork and knife down. “Well, maybe if my _countless attempts of courting you_ hadn’t fallen on deaf ears all this time, I wouldn’t have to worry about asking you out on a date.”

Garak raised a scaly eyebrow and puffed out his chest, almost defensively like he was guarding himself against something. “We’ve been physically intimate on multiple occasions; I hardly call that falling on deaf ears.”

Julian groaned and rubbed his face. “Quit playing dumb, Garak.”

“I’m uncertain what you mean, Doctor.”

“Oh, come on, don’t tell me your old spy senses have left you. You’re very well aware I’m in love with you, and we both know you’re not entirely appalled by the idea of pursuing a relationship with me.”

Garak’s physique remained calm and collected and Julian knew it was hard to make him lose control, but the slight tremble in the older man’s voice betrayed him. “It seems to me like your unrealistically romantic ideals are clouding your senses. There is a Human expression—what was it again? Ah, you’re looking through rose-coloured glasses.”

“I may be a romantic or whatever terms you prefer, but you also have to keep in mind that I’m a Doctor, and your body tells me more about you than you would like,” Julian informed him, calmer now, as he had gained the upper hand. “Besides, I don’t see any reason why else you would spend additional time with me in my quarters, my bedroom to be more precise, as you refuse any kind of medical check-ups whatsoever.”

“Now, that is outra—”

Julian didn’t let him finish. “Look Garak, I’m not trying to accuse you of anything here. I merely want to make sure that you know it’s okay.” Garak made an expression that equalled an eye-roll. Julian continued, “I wanted this evening to be nice for both of us, but I feel like we need to have this conversation right now.”

Suddenly, the guests around them disappeared and the music died down. Alarmed, Julian looked up at Vic, the only remaining hologram, who seemed to responsible for the change of atmosphere. Julian thanked him with a nod for providing them with some privacy.

Garak, on the other hand, didn’t look too fond of where the direction of the topic was heading. But he remained seated. “What is it that we oh-so desperately need to talk about?”

“What are you so afraid of?”

“I’m not sure I can follow you.”

Julian thought for a moment. “Every morning I wake up alone to you having gone hours before. Every time I tell you how important you are to me, you change the topic in your typical Cardassian fashion. Sometimes I feel like you’re avoiding me for days, only to meet me in the Replimat and pretend as if nothing happened. If you want me to back off, just tell me and I will. But something tells me that’s not the case.”

For the first time since Garak had made his advances on Julian those years ago, Julian saw Garak being honestly speechless.

“Well,” Garak started, mouth opening and closing like a fish. “It seems like our different upbringings do turn out to be a hindrance in our budding relationship.”

“Elaborate.”

Garak made sure to sigh deeply to let Julian know about his discomfort before he complied. “In my former metier—”

“A gardener, you mean,” Julian said with a raised eyebrow.

“Precisely. During those days, I was taught that any kind of affiliation was a sign of weakness and would lead to my destruction someday. And I suppose it’s hard for me to get rid of that point of view.”

It made sense to Julian. He was aware that all those 007-stories were highly romanticised for the purpose of entertainment, and a spy had rarely the opportunity to indulge in the chase after women. The actual reality looked far more cold and harsh, and Julian could only imagine what it had to be like in the Obsidian Order. Julian was itching to ask for more details because his intuition told him there was something else, but he decided not to push it.

After processing the new information, Julian spoke again. “I understand, and I realise I must have been pushy.”

“You have been,” Garak agreed. “But your eagerness has shown me that it’s worth to indulge myself.”

“Well, that calls for another date,” Julian said, his boyish smile back on his face. “Are you free next week?”

“I’m sure I can make time for it.”

The smile they shared held so much more meaning now. Julian had finally understood that his attempts weren’t actually being dismissed by Garak, he just had a hard time to deal with them. And he reckoned being intimate was easier for Garak than openly showing his feelings or, God forbid, talking about them.

“Computer: restore guests and band.”

**(###)**

After they had finished their meals, they took a stroll on the Promenade, neither of them exceptionally eager to return to their quarters just yet. It couldn’t be 2200 hours yet, but the area was definitely less crowded than usual.

“If you allow me, I have one additional question about Humans,” Garak said.

“Ask away.”

“I couldn’t help but notice your friend, Vic, singing a variety of songs about space and the stars. But if I recall correctly, spacecraft wasn’t that advanced in the first half of the 20th century.”

Julian nodded in agreement. “You’re correct. But humanity has always been fascinated with the sky, the stars and the unknown that we call space. You could say it symbolises our Human nature to aim for the seemingly impossible and unreachable, to do everything in our power to reach our dreams.”

Garak hummed wistfully. “Then I have to voice my gratitude for that particular trait. Because after all, your dreams did come true.”

Julian grinned at his companion and linked their arms together. He supposed he had to be thankful for that, too.

**Author's Note:**

> lmk what you think <3  
> talk to me about gay aliens on twitter: [diorbashir](https://twitter.com/diorbashir)  
> [my carrd](https://diluculum.carrd.co/)


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